DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, or any of the characters in this story.

Any and all reviews will be much appreciated.

-thoughts are in italics-

THE BEGINNING

'Click, click, click' Sasuke listened intently as he turned his head, feeling the cold wet gravel beneath his cheek.

'Click, click, click, click, click' it was more hurried now. Sasuke blinked away the milky red substance that blocked his vision, trying to focus on the dark figure running towards him.

"Stop!" He heard a woman's voice shout, "Leave him alone! He's had enough!"

Sasuke grunted as he felt another hard blow to the ribs, pushing him further across the wet gravel. 'Stupid girl' he thought to himself, 'she's going to get herself killed or worse'.

But he was wrong. What Sasuke saw next, well he wasn't even sure he could explain it.

This woman, this small framed woman - She'd stood in front of his body that was sprawled across the dirty road and stood in a protective stance against the 3 men who had been using Sasuke as their personal punching (and kicking) bag.

He couldn't believe it, nor what came next. The way she graciously moved - swift, and quick. She knocked them all down to the ground in a matter of seconds with sharp and precise jabs, looking as though she hadn't broken a sweat or tired herself in the slightest. This woman had guts, and strength.

"Leave!" she shouted, louder than she had shouted earlier, lowering her stance as if she was a lioness protecting her young cubs.

The three men scoffed, picked themselves up off of the ground and spat in the direction of Sasuke. "This isn't over, Uchiha." the main grunt growled, taping the shoulder of one of his mates and heading off in the opposite direction down the dark alley way, leaving with one last dangerous look to the woman's direction.

Sasuke pulled himself into a sitting position on the ground, coughing and spitting out blood onto the wet road.

The woman in front of him watched down the alley way for the shadowed figures to disappear before turning around to tend to him.

She kneeled down to the ground and placed a hand underneath his chin, being as gentle as possible she turned his face up to look at her.

"You look horrible, you need to see a doctor" she said as she reached for her phone in her jacket pocket.

"No!" Sasuke grumbled, turning his head away from her hand on his chin and smacking her wrist away from the phone she was reaching for, "I don't need to see a doctor."

A 'humph' noise came from the woman, "you shouldn't be so stubborn, you could be seriously hurt!"

"I'm not," he lashed back, placing his hands on the ground on either side of him to pull himself up. "I'm fine." he grumbled, but his words had betrayed him almost as quickly as they had left his lips. A sharp stabbing pain shot through his rib cage, causing him to lurch forward and fall over onto the ground.

The woman sighed, and shook her head. Moving over to him she muttered an apology and reached into his back jean pocket to remove his wallet, she opened it up and looked at his ID before closing it and putting it into her own jacket pocket, not wanting to force it back into his pants. Sasuke didn't live too far from where they were currently, so if he didn't want to go get checked out by a medic, the least she could do was help him get home.

"Yes, you're certainly fine." She said sarcastically, moving closer to him and grabbing his arm on the side he hadn't lurched over in pain on, and draped it over her shoulder. The woman then moved her arm and snaked it around his waist to help pull him up off of the ground, using her own body to support his weight. "Let's get you home Mr. Uchiha."

"I don't need your help," Sasuke spat, his pride sinking as he unwillingly leaned on her short stature "I'm fine!"

Although he had refused her help, she took note that he hadn't struggled to move away from her. "Yes. I know. You're fine" she said with a shake of her head and a small upwards curve on her lips.

It was only during this time that Sasuke was able to look at the woman who had insisted on helping him.

She was short, well not too short, but definitely shorter than him. She had long, waist length black hair that shined with a tinge of blue in the moonlit sky. Her skin was fair and smooth, and Sasuke found himself drawn to her big doe like eyes, they reminded him so much of large white pearls, but with a hint of lilac within them - If Sasuke wasn't such a shut off man, and actually paid attention to women instead of shunning away from them – he would consider her a true exotic, and quite beautiful (in a subtle, natural way) woman.

The rest of the walk (or stumble) back to his property was silent, minus a few grunts of pain from Sasuke's end. He welcomed the lack of conversation, celebrated it really. The last thing Sasuke would want is to be lectured like a child, or questioned as to what he was doing or why it had happened in the first place… or worse, be flirted with and fawned over the entire trip, dragging it out to be one long, and even more painful trip home. No, this girl remained quiet, and did her best to carry him without looking like she was exerting herself in doing so.

Despite the sour look on his face, and the ungrateful attitude that he'd given her, she knew that deep down he was thankful for the help she was providing.

"Do you have your keys?" She asked as they reached the address she had obtained from his ID, slipping her arm away from his waist and leaving him to rest on the chair on the front porch.

Sasuke moved slowly into a more comfortable position on the wooden chair "No, but the other idiot that lives here should be home, he was when I left at least."

"Oh. Alright," the woman mumbled, moving towards the door she looked back at Sasuke before turning to knock loudly three times "hello?" She called out, knocking a further 3 times in case she hadn't been heard the first time "hello?"

No sounds could be heard coming from inside the property what so ever, so she turned to look back at Sasuke as if to ask 'what now?'

Sasuke exhaled loudly and slowly, forcing himself to sit up and point to a pot that was placed on the window sill "Check under that dead plant" he groaned, applying pressure to his side to help ease the pain as he moved.

The woman followed his pointing finger to a dirty and slightly cracked pot sitting on the window, its leaves an ugly olive brown color and collapsed over the edges. This poor withered plant looked like it had never seen a drop of water in its probably short life.

She hesitantly picked up the fragile pot, careful not to break it - but seen nothing underneath. "There isn't a key here…" she mumbled, looking to see if it had fallen on the ground at all without her hearing a clink of a key.

Sasuke almost caught himself with a grin on his face as he watched her moves, "There is, look at the bottom of it."

With a raised eyebrow, she tilted the old pot slightly and lifted it to be just above her eye level to see a small silver key had been stuck with duct tape to the bottom of the pot. She plucked the key off and placed the poor planted plant back onto the window before sliding the key into the lock. It turned with ease, and by the time the woman had swung the door open and flicked on a light to see, Sasuke was already up from the chair she had left him on and was dragging himself across the brick wall for support to make his way through the open door.

"Here," she spoke softly, gripping his arm and helping him through as to ensure he didn't hurt himself any more than he already was "let me help."

'hn' groaned Sasuke, accepting her help inside, and directing her to the lounge room. Once there, he lowered himself onto the lounge.

"Do you own a first aid kit?" asked the woman, looking around the barely lit room, she had only managed to get the entry light on, and it was just barely illuminating into the lounge room for them to see one another and the surroundings of the room.

"Kitchen, it's the door to the left and then under the sink." Sasuke said, slumping down lower into the comfort of the lounge, he watched her disappear slowly into the kitchen with her arms in front of her to avoid bumping into anything that could be hiding in the darkness. He could have told her where the lights switch was, but he enjoyed watching her fumble her way around the foreign surroundings.

After a couple of minutes, her figure reappeared into the lowly lit room. She held in one hand his red first aid kit, and in the other a warm wet cloth.

Moving in front of Sasuke, she placed the kit onto the cushion beside him and lifted his chin with her other hand, using the warm wet cloth to wash the blood and dirt off of his face.

Sasuke wasn't hurt too badly, he had a black eye and a small cut above his eyebrow that seemed to bleed a lot more than you'd expect such a small cut to, as well as some bruised ribs. He certainly looked a lot worse for wear than he really was.

"My name is Hinata, by the way." She mumbled quietly, her pearl eyes focused on the cut above his eyebrow, and her hands being as gentle as possible to not cause him any pain as she finished cleaning the dirt and blood off of his face.

Sasuke was somewhat mesmerized by her, and it seemed that the feeling was mutual, as Hinata had begun to notice that underneath the muck on his face, and the stern look that reminded her of her father – that Sasuke was actually quite a handsome man.

"Are you sure you don't need to see a doctor?" Hinata asked as she placed down the now dirty cloth onto the coffee table and reached for the first aid kit, "My medical skills aren't the greatest" she frowned, digging through to find a band aid for his eyebrow. "You could have a cracked rib for all we know."

"I'm fine." Sasuke said, watching her movements carefully.

Hinata smiled faintly and pushed his hair back to place the band aid on ever so gently "so you've told me."

Despite being taken a little back by her beauty and polite, caring ways - Sasuke was rather skeptical as to why she was helping him, and why she was out so late at night by herself in the first place. This girl Hinata had appeared out of nowhere - jumped in and risked her own safety and then insisted on helping him despite him stating time and time again that he didn't need or want her help. He didn't understand it, there had to be a motive behind her actions. Maybe she was one of those weird, crazy stalker girls that followed him everywhere and was using this as her chance to get close to him.

Sasuke was certainly suspicious of her, but at the same time part of him was telling him that she didn't seem like the type to fuss and fawn over a man – but he also hadn't seen her around before, and that also made him curious, as well as cautious of her.

As Sasuke eyed Hinata's every move, the sudden sound of feet were heard tapping loudly on the porch boards out the front, followed by the door being swung open, creaking the hinges.

"Jerk, you home?" a loud questionable voice came from a tall blonde man who appeared in the dim lit doorway. His face was twisted with confusion as he noticed a strange woman standing in front of Sasuke.

"Oh, you've got company." He said with a noticeable grin on his face, flicking on the light switch by the entry to the lounge room to get a better look at their guest.

"O-Oh! H-Hello!" Stuttered Hinata, stepping back from Sasuke, stunned by the sudden appearance of the blonde man at the doorway. "My name is Hinata! Uh..." Hinata chewed her lower lip and looked around as if trying to remember something, "y-your friend!" She pointed to Sasuke on the lounge "it's not what it looks like!" she waved her hands around in front of her as if to say that nothing was going on between them.

The blonde looked at the stunned Hinata, before he turned to look questionably at Sasuke and noticed his messy blood-covered clothes and the white band aid stuck to his head. "Damn Sasuke, what the hell happened to you?" The blonde laughed, heading over to him "you look like a mess."

"Still look better than you, Naruto." Sasuke retorted with a scoff, about to open his mouth to speak again before he was interrupted.

"I'm so sorry!" Hinata gushed, her face now flushed a deep red "He got into a fight trying to stop some guys from harassing me!" she lied, laughing nervously as she pushed her index fingers together and looked down at the ground in shame.

If there was one thing that Hinata knew, it was that men don't like to have their masculinity questioned or challenged in any shape or form, and it was better to lie about what had happened than state that she'd come across Sasuke being beaten, and been the one who scared away harassing men.

Naruto looked between them and nodded, not questioning the story that Hinata had provided to him. It sounded reasonable enough, sure - Sasuke could be a jerk, but he wouldn't simply walk by a women being hassled by some cheap thugs.

"Thanks for helping him get back here then." Naruto said as he sat down on the reclining chair on the opposing side of the coffee table "Must have been scary for you!"

"Y-Yes, and it was no issues helping him back here after that!" Hinata smiled, before something clicked in her mind and her hand flew to her pocket, "o-oh! Sasuke! Your wallet" she mumbled, pulling it out of her jacket and holding it out for Sasuke to take "I promise I didn't take anything from it, I just needed it to get you home." She said quietly as she bit the inside of her cheek.

Naruto's lips curved upwards and a chuckle erupted from them, "I imagine getting him home would be about as difficult as trying to get a sick dog to the vets!"

Hinata smiled and nodded. "Yes, but Mr. Uchiha needed the help, and it was the least I could do after he helped me," she looked at Sasuke's stern face and frowned as she sat down beside him on the couch "I'm sorry for the hassle" she spoke quietly.

"You don't have to apologize to him," Naruto beamed in – interrupting whatever Sasuke was about to say.

Naruto stood up from the chair he was sitting in "How about I make us all a cup of coffee?" he offered, not waiting for anyone to answer him before he left the room.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked as Naruto disappeared from sight. Sasuke watched her face carefully as she focused on the doorway that lead into the kitchen. "You lied, why?" he questioned her.

Hinata's face turned to meet his, her pearly orbs staring into his deep charcoal gaze.

She frowned. "I didn't think it was necessary for him to know how I found you…" she mumbled, her eyes dropping to look at her hands in her lap. "Don't worry though. I don't want anything. You owe me nothing at all."

Sasuke watched her closely, and by the looks of it she didn't seem to be lying, and he was relieved that she hadn't acted proud and embarrassed him by telling Naruto that she literally saved his butt from a tougher beating.

This girl was different from the ones he was used to being around. Sasuke never paid women much attention. Most women all seemed to be annoying and demanding to him - never giving him space for himself. They knew nothing of boundaries or respect. Hinata however - she seemed quiet, and reserved. She offered silence without being asked, and never over stepped her mark when it came to personal space. She hadn't tried to throw herself all over him, and even her damsel in distress story that she'd gave Naruto made her sound more embarrassed than grateful and romanticized like he was her Prince Charming. He had appreciated that much.

"Thank you, Hinata." He spoke softly.

His soft velvet voice had sent a chill down Hinata's spine, causing her to shiver slightly. She looked up at him with bright eyes. It wasn't often that Hinata was genuinely thanked by someone, and she could tell from his demeanor that he wasn't the type of person to be openly grateful. With a small up curve of her mouth, she nodded as a form of accepting his thanks.

Naruto came back into the room shortly after with two black mugs in his hands, steam floating above the top.

"Here you go! One piping hot coffee" he grinned and handed her one of the hot mugs, placing the other on the side of the coffee table he was going to be sitting on. "Just wait Sasuke" he said as he headed back in to the kitchen to grab a glass of something a little stronger for Sasuke's pain.

Sasuke happily took the glass that was half filled with scotch from his friend, thankful that the idiot gave him that instead of medication.

Naruto sat down and looked to Hinata who was blowing gently on the top of the hot liquid. "So Hinata, do you need me to walk you home later?" he asked, taking a mouthful of his coffee.

Hinata took a small sip of the hot beverage, taking note of its overly sweet taste. Naruto had clearly gone sugar happy with it, but she was still grateful for his effort.

Looking up at him she shook her head slowly, "Oh, no thank you… I should be able to get myself home." She drank a little more of the coffee in her hands, "thank you for the offer, and the coffee Naruto. It's very good."

'Hn' Sasuke grunted, taking a swig at the alcoholic beverage in his hand with a smirk on his face 'that coffee is toxic, and she knows it' he thought to himself, he had seen the way her nose scrunched up after the first sip. She was too polite for her own good.

"Do you have something to say, jerk?!" Naruto looked at Sasuke with furrowed brows, raising a fist as if he wanted to fight from the remark Sasuke had made to Hinata's nice compliment.

Sasuke looked at Hinata before his gaze returned to Naruto. "Yeah idiot, your coffee is basically just sugar and water."

Naruto opened his mouth to yell at Sasuke, but was stopped by the faint laugh he had heard erupt from Hinata's lips.

"I'm sorry, it is a little sweet" she spoke softly, placing a mostly empty cup of coffee down on the table, "but I do enjoy it nonetheless" she said as she offered him another smile. It was true though, as Hinata had a love for everything sweet.

Naruto smiled at her, and looked at Sasuke as if he'd won a fight they hadn't even had.

"I should get going though, it's quite late." She mumbled, looking at the silver watch on her wrist that read 11:47pm. "Thank you for your hospitality" she stood and smiled once more at Naruto before turning her gaze to Sasuke, "I hope you rest easy, Sasuke."

Sasuke looked at her and nodded so faintly that she almost missed it. It was small, but she greatly appreciated his small gesture of thanks.

Naruto walked over to her, "Look, after what happened earlier tonight I can't possibly let you walk home by yourself" he motioned over towards Sasuke's direction, "can't risk something like that happening to you, it'll be safer if I walk you home."

Hinata's mouth curved downwards slightly, but she nodded. She knew that to protect the story that she'd lied to Naruto about for Sasuke, that all she could do was accept his kind gesture to walk her home. "Okay, thank you Naruto…" She smiled, "and thank you too, Sasuke."

Sasuke watched as the two figures disappeared out the door and he was finally left alone.

Finishing off his glass of scotch, he kicked off his shoes and lay back carefully onto the lounge. 'She's the last person who needs protection walking home' he grinned to himself and stared up at the ceiling, closing his eyes.

He was happy to welcome in a long (and probably painful) slumber.

more coming soon.

Let me know what your thoughts are, as I am new to this!

~ Maixxy